Cancer Institute A national cancer institute
designated cancer center

Eugene Butcher

Publication Details

  • IL-17 regulates adipogenesis, glucose homeostasis, and obesity.

    Zúñiga LA, Shen WJ, Joyce-Shaikh B, Pyatnova EA, Richards AG, Thom C, Andrade SM, Cua DJ, Kraemer FB, Butcher EC. J Immunol. 2010; 185 (11): 6947-59

    Inflammatory mediators have the potential to impact a surprising range of diseases, including obesity and its associated metabolic syndrome. In this paper, we show that the proinflammatory cytokine IL-17 inhibits adipogenesis, moderates adipose tissue (AT) accumulation, and regulates glucose metabolism in mice. IL-17 deficiency enhances diet-induced obesity in mice and accelerates AT accumulation even in mice fed a low-fat diet. In addition to potential systemic effects, IL-17 is expressed locally in AT by leukocytes, predominantly by γδ T cells. IL-17 suppresses adipocyte differentiation from mouse-derived 3T3-L1 preadipocytes in vitro, and inhibits expression of genes encoding proadipogenic transcription factors, adipokines, and molecules involved in lipid and glucose metabolism. IL-17 also acts on differentiated adipocytes, impairing glucose uptake, and young IL-17-deficient mice show enhanced glucose tolerance and insulin sensitivity. Our findings implicate IL-17 as a negative regulator of adipogenesis and glucose metabolism in mice, and show that it delays the development of obesity.

    PubMedID: 21037091

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